Explorers choose wisely

ALTON — Marquette Catholic High girls soccer coach Steve Mitchell gave his players a choice at halftime of their Monday game against Edwardsville.

“I told them to either start playing or we’d have practice for three hours.

The Explorers chose the latter.

Marquette, trailing 1-0 at halftime, picked up its pace and gained a 1-1 tie with Edwardsville at Gordon Moore Park. Lauren Schmickley’s penalty kick goal in the 43rd minute pulled the Explorers even - and that’s where the score remained, even though both teams had later chances to take the lead.

“We tweaked things a little,” said Mitchell, whose Class 1A team ran its record to 4-1-2. “Our first half, we weren’t playing well. Nobody was going to the ball - it was not good.”

The second half was a turnaround - in more ways than one.

Class 3A Edwardsville (6-1-2) played the second half without starters Jane Anne Crabtree and Mallory Mushill, who had prior school commitments.

“Part of the second half was a matter of getting other players to take those slots and play the second half,” Edwardsville coach Abby Comerford said. “But that’s the way it goes. It’s still very early and this is a learning process.”

The Tigers outshot Marquette 10-6, but in the second half, the Explorers played them dead-even with each team getting five shots.

Marquette has a pair of ties with Southwestern Conference teams. Last week, the Explorers played O’Fallon to a 0-0 draw.

“We’re six games in and we’re still learning, getting used to each other,” Mitchell said. “We lost just about our whole defense and on offense, our strikers (Annabelle Copeland and Kate Sanfilippo) are adjusting on playing together.”

Sanfilippo, a senior Northern Illinois University recruit, has moved from central midfielder to the top in tandem with sophomore Copeland.

“They don’t play club soccer together, so it’s an adjustment for them,” Mitchell said. “But they’re already starting to show what they can do. Good luck finding a Class 1A team to control those two.”

Edwardsville’s Allison Pritchard gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute when she took the ball from an errant clearing pass and blasted it from the right side of the penalty area inside the left post.

“Edwardsville is a very good team,” Mitchell said. “But we didn’t play well against then in the first half.”

The Explorers only bonafide scoring chance in the first half nearly resulted in a tie score at halftime. But Kali Segieda’s blast on a direct free kick hit the crossbar.

It didn’t take long for the Explorers to tie the score in the second half, however.

Picking up the pace - and the pressure - Marquette was pressing Edwardsville from the second-half kickoff. Three minutes into the half, Copeland was fouled in the penalty area by Edwardsville goalie Lauren Serfas as they both were going for the loose ball. Schmickley converted the ensuing penalty kick to make it 1-1.

What did the Tigers’ Comerford see on the play?

“It doesn’t really matter what I saw,” Comerford said. “The ref called a foul and they made the penalty kick. That’s about it.”

Midway through the second half, the Tigers had a chance to take the lead, but a shot out of a scrum in front of Marquette goalie Sonorah Eldred was cleared of the line by the Explorers defense.

And in the final minute of play, a corner kick by Sanfilippo was headed just wide of the EHS goal by Anna Boschert.

Marquette will face Roxana at Wood River Soccer Park at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, then plays at Quincy Notre Dame at 6:30 p.m. Friday. That’s followed by a game at Litchfield April 16 and then a recently added home game April 21 against Normal Community High, another Class 3A team.

“We’ve got a tough schedule down the road,” Mitchell said. “We have to keep progressing and be prepared.